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The Magical Projection Screen

One of my favorite features of the original show was the wall of rotating segments and the movie projected on them. Jim, do you have any info on this?

Dan, thank you for always commenting. Sometimes I have an answer for your questions. Fortunately, this time I do know a little. All of this was removed in the 1996 rehab.

The eight minutes of the kinetic multi-image pre-show employed five 35mm projectors that cast rapidly moving images onto a 90 by 14 foot "magical" projection screen. The screen was made up of 100 separate three-sided segments. Each segment could rotate independently or in conjunction with the others, revealing a black side, a reflective side or a projection surface. Their movements were controlled by a micro-processor that runs in sync with the projected film.

The effect transforms the projected two-dimensional images into a three-dimensional "energized" mosaic. (Yes, that is what Disney called it, an energized mosaic.)

Emil Radok (a lauded Czechoslovakian filmmaker) designed the long magical screen above the queue area The eight minutes of imagery served as an "Energy Primer" to introduce the story of energy. It bean with designs representing the elemental forms of energy: atoms and crystals whirling around the screen. (Never trust an atom. They make up everything.) Then galaxies form, lightning bolts flash, life begins, humankind appears on the screen. Then from primitive man to modern man the show, techniques were shown that man used to control energy.

At the end of the presentation, we are reminded that eventually fossil fuels will not satisfy the world's growing energy demands but will still be important. However, it is only by understanding the many "faces" of energy (represented by those 100 little screens that we can build a more secure energy future.

Whew! I really need to get a girlfriend or a life. Oh, by the way, in reference to your question last week, no that blank gun did not trigger the "shattering" of the light so the vehicle could proceed.

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